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Snow eludes Shimla on Christmas

SHIMLA: Hoping for a white Christmas once again, thousands of tourists from all over the country and abroad swarmed to this picturesque hill station here on Tuesday but the weather gods blessed them instead with a bright sunny day.

The State, however, went ahead with the much awaited winter carnival on Christmas at the historic Ridge and The Mall.

The celebrations would include cultural shows, orchestras and police band performances till the midnight of New Year, said the officials.

In the absence of snow, the revellers made a beeline for the age-old ice skating rink at Ravioli. The weather here is perfect for regular skating sessions which require a cloudless sky but very low temperatures.

The rink, described as the oldest of its kind in Asia, is also the venue for the National Ice Skating Championships to be held from January 5 to 7.

Many tourists were also seen rushing to the nearby snow resorts of Kufri and Fagu.

The city hotels are packed to capacity and booked with hundred per cent advance reservations till the first week of January, said tourism officials.

JALANDHAR: Although there was dense fog in the morning hours and later on it was bright sunshine, minimum temperature in Adampur was recorded as 3.8 degree Celsius.

Amritsar emerged as coldest plain area of the region with minimum temperature of 2.6 degree Celsius, sources at Adampur Air Force station said.

At other Air Force stations of the region, minimum temperature was recorded as 7 C at Halwara, 8.4 C at Chandigarh, 8 C at Ambala, 6.6 C at Bathinda, 7 C at Pathankot, 8.4 C at Jammu, 3 C at Udhampur and at Srinagar air force station, minimum temperature was recorded as minus 5 degree Celsius, sources added.

Jaipur: Mercury continued to rise in most of the areas of the State on Tuesday and provided respite from the intense cold conditions for the sixth consecutive day.

Pilani remained coldest in the State recording a minimum of 6.6 degree Celsius, the met reports said here.

The effect of western disturbance continued to guide mercury to take an upward swing today as temperatures in a majority of stations in the State witnessed rise in temperatures.

Pilani was followed by Sriganganagar that recorded a minimum of 7.0 degree Celsius. Churu 7.2, Bikaner 9.5, Jaisalmer 11.4, Jaipur 11.6, Barmer 12.5, Ajmer 12.8, Jodhpur 14.5 and Kota recorded a minimum of 18.4 degree Celsius. Mercury would further rise giving respite from shivering as the western disturbance is likely to overcast the sky in the State in next 24 hours. --PTI

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Snow eludes Shimla on Christmas

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